Theory of writing can be described as essentially a way of explaining a particular concept. In this case the theory I would be describing would be writing. Before coming into this class I believed that writing was just another form of expressing yourself and thoughts. I reluctantly made edits after rough drafts and normally just freely wrote about my thoughts in a way that I believed was articulate. I failed to acknowledge that it was important for my readers to understand my perspective than try to impress them with an extensive vocabulary. I struggled to efficiently convey my messages because I was too concerned about appearing eloquent in my writing. I used words that were not apart of my daily vocabulary use because i was afraid of sounding unintelligent. I would say it was mostly my pride that blinded me from truly reaching my potential as a writer. If I had not been so concerned about the complexity of my text, I would have been able to express myself more easily which would have been to the benefit of myself and the readers. Even in the beginning of my academic career here in Sophie, i remember critiquing a peer’s paper under these guidelines and the feedback I received was that my language was too academic. In fact it was soo academic that it defeated the purpose of the assignment which was to aid my peer in developing a stronger outsider essay. I believe this moment to be the eye opener for me as it finally resonated with me that I was doing myself and peers a disservice by writing in such manner. 

After receiving feedback on my assignment, I wanted to change my approach to academic writing and focus more on conveying a coherent and easily understandable point to my readers. I stopped relying heavily on thesaurus and simply wrote what first came to mind. I began writing the body paragraphs of my assignments in order to refrain from falling into the old cycle of mine. I will admit that it was difficult at first because I had been taught the previously mentioned way since my highschool days, but I made a breakthrough during the metaphor essay. The metaphor essay allowed me to just provide my analysis of different metaphors and their relationships. It was the first essay that did not feel as if I had been forced to write in such an eloquent manner in order to convey my points. In addition to this essay, the peer reviews either electronically or done in class allowed me to just freely say what I believed to be good advice. The in class peer review, where we had to read our essays aloud in small groups, was especially important because I received direct feedback that was not deterred by academic writing and was more literal. 

This course has prioritised the importance of conveying your message which has translated to my writings I have changed my way of writing. Even my discussion posts for the creative expression part of FIQWS dramatically improved as stopped reciting the summaries of the texts I read and provided more analyses and connections to the overall theme of the week whilst also incorporating personal anecdotes if possible. Also the reflections after each major essay assignment helped me further understand the importance of the skills i used within each respective essay. It allowed me the opportunity to gather my thoughts about each essay and figure out what progress I had made as a writer. Even though each essay presented its own challenges, the challenges were never the same which demonstrates how I was able to grow as a writer by correcting mistakes I made. 

In conclusion, I would say that my theory of writing has drastically changed from my time before entering this program and after completing my first semester. I have come to understand that a theory of writing is a way of explaining a concept, but in my case it is a way of expressing my thoughts in an efficient manner that will convey my points to any reader without the difficulty of trying to incorporate complex language into my writings. In the end, I am glad that I was able to grow as a writer as this will only continue to benefit me in the future as I progress through the program and as an adult.